Pat Phelan
Patrick James "Pat" Phelan is a fictional character and recurring antagonist of the British ITV soap opera Coronation Street. He first appeared as a key character of 2013 and went on to serve as the secondary antagonist in the first half of 2014, an unseen character in 2015, and the primary antagonist from 2016-2017 towards the first half of June 2018. He was portrayed by Connor McIntyre. Biography 2013-2014 Phelan started out as a client of Owen Armstrong but turned out to be a bankrupt who refused to pay Owen for some building work. In revenge Owen stole Phelan's motorbike, forcing him to pay up the money owed. A couple of months later a seemingly forgiving Phelan turned up at Owen's household and proposed a job for construction work on new flats. Phelan wanted Owen to run the project as Phelan was a bankrupt. After discussing it with his family, Owen agreed and the deal was done. However, Phelan began to secretly creep out Owen's girlfriend Anna, and on multiple occasions made her feel uneasy and even touched her. Anna called Phelan round to the house to put him straight, but seemingly believing she was trying to flirt with him made a pass at her. He eventually left the house, but Anna remained scared of Phelan. When Anna's son Gary found out, he confronted Phelan at the building site when all of the other workers had gone. Phelan taunted Gary, calling Anna a "tart". In a rage, Gary punched Phelan - sparking a fight between them that culminated with Gary knocking him unconscious with a plank of wood. Believing to have killed Phelan, a panicked Gary phoned Owen for help - only for the duo to find that Phelan has disappeared from the scene of the crime. A few days later, Phelan reappeared and revealed the whole incident was caught on tape, and said as long as they did as he said he wouldn't turn it over to the police. Although Gary was willing to give himself up, Owen was firm and didn't want Gary to be imprisoned as he had a son to think of. Phelan proceeded to taunt and overwork Owen and Gary over the course of a few weeks. Anna was unable to watch the stress they were under so asked Phelan she would do anything he wanted. Anna agreed to sleep with Phelan, and in the progress he gave Owen and Gary the tape and let them go from the contract (but took all of the money Owen invested, leaving them bankrupt). 2015 A few months later, Phelan sent the Armstrong and Windass family a postcard from Dubai - thus rubbing in this glory further. It was at this point that Anna confessed sleeping with Phelan to Owen, which effectively drove the couple apart as Owen would leave Weatherfield due to the crisis. It was around this time, however, that Valrie discovered the truth about Phelan as well - which consequently led to the pair's divorce and Valrie claiming all the assets, thereby leaving Phelan with nothing. 2016-2018 Phelan returned in January 2016, in which he gets a job working for Kevin Webster - who is coincidentally Anna's new boyfriend. It soon turns out that Phelan is working with Jason Grimshaw and he later forms a relationship with his mother Eileen. During their relationship, Phelan secretly gained enemies following his attempts to sabotage Jason's business; He repeatedly clashed with Michael that led to his initial departure, while Jason's brother Todd is the only member in the family who is completely aware of Phelan's true nature. Kevin soon discovered the truth about this upon catching Phelan assaulting Anna in her café, and on some occasions exchanged antagonistic and hostile threats against him. Phelan also ended up in a confrontation with Johnny Connor after a confrontation between Jason and the latter's son Aidan following the death of Jason's father Tony. After punching Phelan in the Rovers and unsuccessfully attempting to apologize afterwards, Johnny promised to settle their interactive feud next time. Phelan became close friends with Vinny Ashford. Phelan and Vinny built a scam together, and then began a relationship with Eileen Grimshaw. After Eileen's son Todd discovered the deception, he also went along with the scam. Eileen's ex, Michael Rodwell, attempted to bring him down permanently. Michael broke into Phelan's office and discovered fake passports, but when Phelan noticed he was there, Michael threw a chair at him and ran out of the office. Outside, as Michael collapsed with a sudden heart attack, Phelan watched on as Michael died instead of calling for an ambulance and then walked away. Todd found Michael dead the following morning and Vinny did a runner with the money. In December 2016, Michael's surrogate son Andy Carver grew suspicious about Phelan and was later convinced of his role in Michael's death upon hearing rumors of Kevin confronting Phelan over it. Later on that night, Andy vengefully hit Phelan on the head with a brick and knocked him unconscious. However, Phelan survived and made it clear to Andy that he knew of his role behind the attack. He subsequently blackmailed Andy into committing petty crimes and sabotaging Kevin's business under the threat of reporting him to the police and getting him sent down for attempted murder. When Anna had fallen downstairs on New Years' Eve, Kevin's 6-year-old son, Jack, ran off to get help and Phelan offered to help. He had to kick the door in to rescue Anna. After fixing the door, Phelan stole the receipt for Kevin's new pick-up truck. A few days later, Phelan called the retailer and changed the delivery address for the new truck. Andy was ordered to sell it. Andy and his girlfriend, Steph Britton, had planned to move to Portugal. A couple of days before they left, Phelan noticed that Kevin had CCTV in his garage and had unknowingly caught him admitting to his involvement in the scam during another confrontation with Todd; this was on the day Phelan took Eileen out to dinner in which Todd confronted him about his attempts to let go on the scam development, which Phelan promptly responded to disregarding the issue upon telling Todd how he would've ripped off the Weatherfield residents had Vinny never ditched nor betrayed him in the first place. When discovering this, Phelan summoned Andy and coerced him into setting fire to the garage. Andy agreed. That night, Phelan poured vodka into Kevin's drink. Kevin went to sleep in a car at the garage. After Luke Britton and Tracy Barlow had intercourse the previous night, they also wanted CCTV footage deleted cause it was filming during the night. Afterwards, Andy poured petrol on the floor, set fire to a bag and threw it on the floor. Andy made off with Kevin's laptop containing the CCTV footage. On Phelan's wedding day, Phelan noticed Andy with the laptop with the footage playing. Phelan's last demand was to break the laptop. Andy hit him with it and Phelan pretended to be unconscious. Phelan caught Andy off guard, and the two fought with the former taking the upper hand. Taking Kevin's laptop and ranting about how "the bad guy always gets his comeuppance", Phelan declares this a new ending on high alert before striking the laptop onto Andy, seemingly killing him. Phelan texted Steph with Andy's phone, leading her to believe that Andy had broken off with her and left for Bristol. Phelan then rushed to his wedding, where he married Eileen. Phelan later returned to Andy's flat and attempted to clean the victim's blood stains from the carpet with a wide assortment of cleaning products. With no progress being made, Phelan flooded the flat by breaking open the radiator, he then, rolled up the carpet and stored it in his van, later disposing of it. Eight months later, it is slowly revealed that Phelan had kept Andy alive and was concurrently keeping him hostage ever since he struck him with a laptop. Additionally, Phelan's long-lost daughter Nicola Rothstein turned up and the duo steadily reconcile in the midst of Nicola's apprenticeship with Seb Franklin, whom Phelan had recently taken in as his assistant. During this time, Phelan extracted information on Vinny's whereabouts and blackmailed him into returning under the threat of harming his mother, Flora. This plan was successful and Phelan then took Vinny hostage, replacing Andy as had been agreed. On the following day, Phelan manipulated Andy into killing Vinny under the belief that he (not Phelan) caused Michael's death before executing him as well. Shortly after burying the bodies of Andy and Vinny in a nearby lake, Phelan proceeded to put Anna in the frame for committing GBH on his apprentice Seb Franklin upon learning that Anna told Nicola the truth about him. However, it was also revealed that Phelan had previously raped Nicola's mother Annabel when she used Anna's confession to seek answers from Annabel's neighbor Lydia Hartman - who also told her the truth about Phelan. Upon manipulating Seb into believing that Anna pushed him off the ladder, Phelan's plan went on successfully when Anna was arrested and remanded in custody after being charged with GBH. At some point, Anna escaped prison when she got sent to hospital upon not feeling well, and Phelan's delight in hearing the news caused both Seb and Anna's daughter Faye - both of whom are currently in a relationship together - to discover Phelan's true colours; Faye had been recently told by Gary about what Phelan did to their mother. After catching out Anna when she unintentionally hit Eileen with a wrench, Phelan called the police on her and Anna was re-arrested. Phelan later visited her under the promise of further revenge for attacking Eileen, which Anna claimed that she was sorry about. However, when Phelan is about to leave after taunting Anna once more, she slapped him on the face and he spitefully had her charged with assault. On the day of Anna's trial, Phelan testified against her whilst both Faye's father Tim Metcalfe and Anna's longtime friend Roy Cropper made a statement on her behalf. When Seb was placed on the stand, he surprisingly defended Anna by exposing Phelan as the perpetuator behind the crime. Seb's testimony appeared to convince Eileen of Phelan's guilt, but this soon changes when she catches Gary and Tim dragging Seb into the latter's taxi on CCTV camera - which led her to believe that the duo were coercing Seb into testifying against Phelan. This revelation is court was enough to destroy Seb's testimony, and Anna was later found guilty of the crime which she didn't commit. As Anna gets taken to prison, she hysterically brands Phelan "pure evil" after describing him as a monster whilst crying out his crimes against Owen and Michael - all the while Phelan taunts her in front of everyone excluding Eileen, who had earlier left the courtroom by the time the verdict was announced. Earlier on, Phelan found himself under pressure from Andy's friend Luke Britton when he began investigating the true circumstances of Andy's "disappearance"; Phelan had already manipulated Luke into believing this, though Luke soon learns otherwise upon being told by Andy's roommate Matt Luscombe that he never made it to Bristol with him, nor did he went to Portugal with his girlfriend Steph. It was soon revealed that Phelan was bribing Matt to cover up the truth behind Andy's disappearance. However, Luke soon found out and later confronted Phelan just as the villain was attempting to dispose of the gun he used to kill Andy. Tensions quickly rise between then when Phelan's attempts to assure Luke's suspicions further convinced the latter of the villain's guilt. Luke then claimed that he would report Andy's disappearance to the police in order to uncover the truth behind the circumstances. However, as Luke was on the verge of leaving, Phelan grabbed a nearby rock and struck Luke on the head with it. He then tried to attack Luke, but was overpowered and beaten to the ground. As Luke fled from the scene, Phelan regained consciousness and perused Luke in his van - leading to the pair engaging in a high-speed car chase that culminated with Phelan ramming Luke's car into a war, totaling it and injuring Luke. As Luke tried to desperately escape, Phelan took out his gun and shot Luke before confessing to Andy's murder. He then told Luke to "say hello" to Andy from him before shooting the fuel-tank of his car, destroying it and killing Luke in the resulting explosion. By the time his murder was discovered, Phelan silently covered his tracks when he used Luke's earlier feud with the racist Parker brothers - both of whom had been targeting Luke and his girlfriend Alya Nazir - to implicate them for the murder. By the time Seb learned of the truth, he told Gary and the pair seek out Nicola in helping them bring Phelan down. Nicola, who had recently learned of Phelan's role in framing Anna and using this evidence to realize that he did killed Luke as Seb claims, falsely called a truce with Phelan and requested that he give Gary a job at his new site mill job in order for him to raise money for Nicola's impending baby; Gary is the father of her child as the pair previously had a one-night stand together. This apparently works as Gary manages to make some progress when he notices Phelan feeling pressured upon his boss Mona Beattie announcing that the project is scheduled to be launched near the place where he killed Andy and Vinny. However,Phelan grows suspicious when he spots someone inside Nicola's flat and steadily learns of her betrayal when he manages to gain access into her flat and ends up seeing Seb there. On the day Nicola is rushed to hospital upon collapsing from her baby's kicking, Phelan confronted her shortly after firing Gary from the mill site job and the pair argued - concluding with Phelan disowning Nicola before storming out in tears, later explaining the situation to Eileen and declaring that she and her granddaughter Summer Spellman are the only people he trusts; further stating that Nicola can "go to hell" along with Gary and Seb. In March 2018, Phelan heard that the Legacy Reach Paper Mill, where the bodies were hidden, was being renovated, and the millpond where they were submerged was to be drained. Phelan took a job at the site and on the day the water was being drained, after the other workers had gone home for the night, Phelan moved the bodies and dumped them in the foundations, filling them with concrete but ended up falling in. Tim Metcalfe and Eileen arrived just in time to save him from the concrete. Due to this, Phelan admitted to the flat scam to Tim and Eileen, who was listening on the cab radio. Tim demanded Phelan to leave Weatherfield when Eileen couldn't bring herself into reporting Phelan to the police. Phelan initially planned on sabotaging Tim's efforts, but it was then that he discovered that the bodies were now on the verge of being discovered. Realizing that it was too risky to relocate them once more, Phelan planned to flee the county by organizing a trip with Eileen under the guise of staying in a cottage within the coast. Despite her reluctance, Eileen agreed with Phelan's plan and the two proceeded with it after dropping off Summer at Dev Alahan's house for a sleepover with his children; Asha and Aadi. As Eileen settled into her "weekly holiday trip" at the cottage, Phelan was notified that the bodies had been found and he instantly packed a bag along with a passport. Eileen began to grew skeptical of Phelan when he told her that she was "crowding him", leading to a furious row between the pair that ended with Eileen hurting herself. Phelan comforted her and left to call an ambulance. As was doing this, however, Eileen received a message from Tim, who - upon learning of the bodies following Gary and Seb's arrest, as they were the ones who discovered them in the midst of seeking out Phelan's gun to prove his role in Luke's murder - desperately warned Eileen about her husband's capability. Eileen, who was now afraid of the situation that Phelan had put her in, tried to call Tim back after telling Phelan that she needed some space. When she managed to get Tim through, however, Eileen noticed Phelan watching her the whole time. Knowing that the game is up at last, Phelan quickly grabbed Eileen's phone and tossed it into the river before accusing her of betraying him. Eileen loudly berates back at him, demanding to know what he has done. Phelan then started to enumerate the crimes that he has done; confessing to causing Michael's death, kidnapping Andy and then killing him after coercing him to execute Vinny - whom Phelan claims had intended to kill Eileen and Todd in the course of the Calcutta Street scenario. This causes Eileen to conclude that Phelan had indeed killed Luke as Seb had previously claimed, and that he himself raped Anna before framing her for committing GBH. After branding Phelan a "murderer" and "rapist", Eileen withheld his getaway keys as he angrily demands her relinquish them to him. When Eileen continued berating her husband whilst rejecting him, Phelan snapped and lunged at Eileen - only to fall off the top of the lighthouse, though he manages to survive by clinging onto a rope. As Phelan desperately tries to get back up to the surface, Eileen angrily stumps on his hands whilst branding him a liar. Eventually, Phelan loses his grip and falls into the sea below - just as the police arrive along with Liz and Tim. As the pair comfort a traumatized Eileen, the police begin searching for Phelan's body as his fate as yet to be confirmed; however, as news of his crimes were coming through to Weatherfield when the police begin making inquiries throughout the locals, Phelan was revealed to have survived his fall and has taken refugee in a hotel where he himself treats to his injuries. Elsewhere, Eileen - who is unaware of her husband's survival following their confrontation - is arrested on suspicion of murdering Phelan as well as conspiring in all his crimes. Phelan had survived the fall so recovers at a B & B under the new name "Alan Frost". Phelan then moves to a village in Wales where he interacts with Nicola by pretending to be a mum. However, Gary is suspicious which results in him finding where Phelan had being staying. Phelan was then kidnapped and brought back to Weatherfield by Gary and one of his army friends. Phelan was then found by Jack Webster, so he tries to manipulate him to let him free. At first Jack disagrees, but then accepts when Phelan offer him some money. He begins to cut the bond, but is interrupted when Sarah and Gary come in and they talk Jack out of it. Phelan then taunts Gary about what happened between him and Anna which results in Gary knocking Phelan to the floor. Phelan then manages to set himself free and hits Gary with a chair and storms off. Phelan then retrieves his gun and points it at Sarah forcing her to make a phone call to Nicola to bring his grandson, Zac Rubinstein over. Sarah rings Tim which leaves Phelan furious. Phelan visits Eileen and forces himself through the door to see Zac. Phelan claims he never loved Eileen and only used her to cover up his nefarious activities. Nicola prevents Phelan from holding Zac and then Seb tires to grab the gun of Phelan, resulting in a struggle that ends with Nicola getting shot. After knocking Eileen and Seb unconscious, Phelan takes a wounded Nicola into the bistro where Robert Preston and Michelle Connor are about to get married requesting for someone to help her. Holding them and their wedding guests at gunpoint, Phelan takes Michelle hostage after forcing her son Ali to help Nicola recover; the two share their last moment together before he descends into the kitchen with a frightened Michelle. Dragging her inside, Phelan stops when he runs into Anna. In that moment, Michelle escapes Phelan's captivity after attacking him - prompting him to shoot her. Anna comes to Michelle's defence and charges at Phelan and, before he could shoot her, stabs him in the heart, mortally wounding him. As Robert and the guests rush to Michelle's aid, Anna approaches Phelan as he's slowly dying and declares victory - further stating that people like him never win and that Zac would never knew he existed and says that her actions were in self defence. Michelle then declares that she will back up Anna's story. Phelan then breathes his last and dies of his injures. Moments later, his body is taken out of Weatherfield - signalling the end of his four year reign of terror once and for all. List of Victims A list of people whom Phelan has victimized in the course of his reign of terror. *'Annabel Rubenstein' — Raped by Phelan back in September 1989; just nine months before their daughter Nicola was born. *'Anna Windass' — Phelan raped Anna by blackmailing her into sleeping with him and then framed her for pushing Seb Franklin off a ladder. She eventually got her revenge on 1 June 2018 after stabbing Phelan during his "last stand" rampage, killing him and ending his reign of terror once and for all. *'Gary Windass' — Phelan blackmailed Gary in retaliation for the latter's assault on him, which led to the events of Anna's rape and Owen losing his £80,000 investment that consequently left both the Armstrong and Windass families on the verge of financial bankruptcy. Phelan was later kidnapped by Gary and was secretly taken back to Weatherfield, whereupon Phelan escaped Gary's captivity and briefly took him hostage at gunpoint. *'Owen Armstrong' — Phelan blackmailed Owen into completing their business project for no profit in retaliation for Gary's assault, then arranged to have him blacklisted from the council's list of approved builders after extorting his invested £80,000; this financially bankrupted the Armstrong and Windass families, which gradually led to Owen leaving Weatherfield after Phelan's actions had effectively destroyed his relationship with Anna in the process. *'Kevin Webster' — Phelan manipulated Kevin into believing his own version of his past with Anna, which nearly destroyed their relationship in the process. When that failed and the pair embarked on a feud, Phelan sabotaged Kevin's business ventures by blackmailing Andy into setting fire to his garage — which consequently discredited Kevin along with his mechanic operations, which Phelan had earlier arranged to have impaired beforehand. *'Jason Grimshaw' — Phelan deceptively usurped Jason by sabotaging his business developments, at one point having his van torched - which essentially led an unsuspecting Jason to depart Weatherfield, thus allowing Phelan to seize control of both his inheritance and his venture for the impending "Calcutta Street" flats scam project. *'Norris Cole' — Phelan conned Norris by arranging to have his venture obstructed; one of Phelan's associates falsely appeared as a property developer and deceived Norris into ordering new shipments before fleeing with them. *'Yasmeen Nazir' — One of the victims of the "Calcutta Street" flats scam development, which Phelan had perpetuated; prior to this, Phelan had organized the vandalism of Yasmeen's community in order to proceed with his nefarious schemes. *'Rita Turner' — One of the victims of the "Calcutta Street" flats scam development, which Phelan had perpetuated. *'Sarah Platt' — One of the victims of the "Calcutta Street" flats scam development, which Phelan had perpetuated; subsequent to this, Phelan had taken Sarah hostage during his "last stand" rampage and was even on the verge of executing her. *'Michael Rodwell' — Phelan watched Michael die of a heart attack, without helping him; this had earlier occurred eight months prior, in which Phelan would've left Michael to die from that point had Jason not interfered. *'Andy Carver' — Phelan kidnapped Andy, kept him locked up inside an abandoned house for nearly over a year, and forced him to execute Vinny before killing Andy himself. *'Vinny Ashford' — Killed by Andy as orchestrated by Phelan himself; prior to this, Phelan blackmailed Vinny into returning to Weatherfield under the threat of harming his mother Flora McArdle and then kidnapped him before having Vinny murdered. *'Luke Britton' — Killed by Phelan after unknowingly puzzling the true circumstances about Andy. *'Eileen Grimshaw' — On the day after discovering his true colors and then sending him to his presumed death following their dramatic confrontation, Eileen got arrested for the crimes which Phelan had perpetuated as the police suspect her of assisting him in his nefarious activities. *'Nicola Rubenstein' — Phelan unintentionally shot Nicola when she attempted to stop his lethal rampage, but she managed to survive. *'Michelle Connor' — Phelan shot Michelle during his attempt to escape Weatherfield, but she managed to survive. Quotes Trivia *Pat Phelan's reign of criminality saga is similar to Richard Hillman's killer storyline. **Phelan and Richard were both businessmen and con artists. **Phelan and Richard's first "murder" victim was by accident and somebody they left to die; with Richard indirectly causing the death of fellow associate Duggie Ferguson in 2002, whereas Phelan had deliberately provoked his arch-rival Michael Rodwell into dying of a heart attack in 2016 before staging the lethal execution of former cohort Vinny Ashford. in 2017. **Their second and third murder victims were committed by their own hands; with Richard killing his ex-wife Patricia in 2002 and later local neighbor Maxine Peacock in 2003, whereas Phelan killed his personal hostage Andy Carver in 2017 before murdering the latter's best friend Luke Britton in 2018. **Shortly after their second murder they got married to the person they loved, with Richard marrying Gail and with Phelan marrying Eileen. **The pair of them tried to move on from their crime and build a happy family life, with Richard creating a ready made family with Gail's and with Phelan attempting to bond with his long-lost daughter. **When the pair came close to being rumbled, they confessed to their loved ones about their crimes, although Richard did it simply because he couldn't lie to Gail anymore, whereas Phelan seemed to do it to boast to Eileen and scare her into letting him getaway. Phelan also appeared to meet his end in a watery grave like Richard, however this didn't come to pass as unlike Richard, he survived and didn't drown. But like Richard himself, Phelan went into hiding after his confession and was killed after his "last stand" rampage had ultimately failed. *The kidnapping storyline which ended on 27 October 2017, with Phelan shooting Andy after having Vinny executed; resulted in Ofcom receiving 390 complaints. Ofcom claims that these complaints were about the violence, but most of these complaints were about the lack of quality in the writing. Critics cite this as a prime example of ITV's supposedly thin skin. *A recurring occurrence with the character is the amount of times he has cheated death and been attacked by an adversary, but he always manages to survive. **He won villain of the year at the British Soap Awards in 2016 and in 2018. **The week of Phelan's last stand was aired after the watershed (9.pm) due to violence and gore. 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